Ronda Rousey has long been the face of women's MMA, but her recent string of losses has placed a big dent on her popularity. She was the first woman to ever sign with the UFC and she certainly will not be the last. However, with much uncertainty surrounding her future in the sport, there may not be a name big enough yet to replace hers if she chooses to hang up her gloves for good.
Should Rousey choose to end her career, there is a chance that contests for the UFC bantamweight championship will be depreciated from main events to just mid-card fights. As of today, no other female fighter in MMA has the ability to draw ticket sales like her.
An Amanda Nunes fight may rake in decent sales the first few times, but there is much doubt about how long interest will last.
Fight fans may argue for Miesha Tate, but she has been retired since UFC 205 and has shown no interest in getting back into competing. Others may put in an argument for Holly Holm, after all she was the one who gave Rousey her first loss. However, she is currently set to do battle for the inaugural UFC women's featherweight championship and it is looking highly likely that she will stay in that division whether she wins or not.
The current top three women's bantamweights in the UFC are the champion Nunes as well as Valentina Shevchanko and Julianna Pena, who are the number one and two contenders for the title respectively, the NY Post reported. While all three of them are highly skilled competitors, they are no Rousey, Tate, and Holm. In the long run, they too will be popularized in mainstream media, but in the mean time the UFC women's bantamweight division is in jeopardy.
Nunes has claimed that Rousey's time in mixed martial arts is officially over, but she has since been amicable and urged the former champ to make a comeback, the Daily Star reported. It will take time, but soon specialized fighters like Rousey (judo) and Tate (wrestling) will have their time in the limelight taken by more "Swiss army knife" fighters like Nunes and Shevchenko who are well versed in multiple disciplines.
Watch some of Rousey's highlights in the UFC here: